‘We warned you’ — Joburg ignored years of alerts before four Mayfair toddlers died in fire

Resident Abdul Ntshangase says the council has been warned for years about conditions in the area. (Photo: Zane Carim)

By Ferial Haffajee

19 May 2025

Four toddlers were burnt beyond recognition in a blaze at an overcrowded Mayfair house — one of 50 flagged slum properties ignored by Johannesburg officials for years. A ward committee member repeatedly warned the city, even submitting another dossier after the deadly Usindiso fire in 2023. No action was taken, and now a community mourns an avoidable loss.

Nadia, Rehana, Patience and Precious — all aged between two and four — died in a fire at a Johannesburg slum property where at least 32 people lived in a space built for six. The city was warned. A contravention notice was issued in 2022. But enforcement never came.

The Johannesburg City Council was repeatedly warned about unsafe living conditions at the Mayfair house in Ward 58, in which the four children died after being burnt beyond recognition on Monday, 19 May.

Crowds gathered outside 22 8th Avenue, Mayfair, Johannesburg, where four children perished in a fire on 19 May 2025. Residents have reported unsafe conditions at this house and at least 50 other properties. (Photo: Zane Carim)

Daily Maverick has documents that show how a Mayfair ward committee member, Aziz Ally, sent a list of at least 50 slumlord problem properties, that included notice of unsafe electrical connections, to numerous officials and political leaders from 2021. The city issued a contravention notice to the owner of the house in 2022, but there was no follow-up, said Ally, who provided Daily Maverick with proof of the contravention notice issued by the city’s inspectorate.

City of Johannesburg spokesperson Nthatisi Modingoane did not immediately respond to Daily Maverick’s request for comment. It will be added once received.

Read more: City of Joburg silent after inquiry finds it responsible for Usindiso fire

The city’s Emergency Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, said the bodies of the four little girls who died in the fire were still being identified by Monday afternoon.

Fatima Banana's child was safe, but she has lost all her belongings. She ran home from work when told about the fire. (Photo: Zane Carim)

A community member identified them only as “Nadia”, “Rehana”, “Patience” and “Precious” and said they were Malawian (likely to have been born to Malawian families in South Africa). She did not know their surnames, but she lived in the house where a yet unnamed woman ran a day-care centre in her room.

Four toddlers found dead on bed

The children were found dead on the bed after being trapped in flames from a fire that began when a stove exploded due to what was thought to be a faulty plug connection, said Mulaudzi. The woman who ran the day-care centre, who had twins of her own, who were safe, had been taken to the Brixton Police Station for questioning, he said.

House occupants said 20 people had been living in the house and there were six back rooms, with two people living in each. They rented for between R1,400 to R1,700 a space, said a woman, who wanted to be called only “Angie”. She said the occupants were from Malawi and Zimbabwe and rented from an Ethiopian owner.

mayfair house Residents tried to tear through the roof at 22 8th Avenue, Mayfair, to fight the blaze. (Photo: Zane Carim)

“They are being exploited. In a house built for four or six [people, you have 50 to 100 staying inside,” said Ally, describing some of the properties in the area.

“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. Every second or third house is being turned into [an] overcrowded, bad building. The officials have failed and only react when four toddlers lost their lives.

“Even city properties [belonging to the Johannesburg Property Company] are hijacked in this ward. The city lets its own properties become slums,” said Ally, who has regularly sent Daily Maverick evidence of his efforts to have bylaws enforced and dangerous conditions investigated.

Lawrence Moyo was called from work and rushed home. His children, one and three years old, got out safely. He and others clambered on to the roof and hammered at a wall to get inside to try to douse the flames. He used a scarf, but still suffered from smoke inhalation.

Lawrence Moyo was wearing a scarf after inhaling fumes when he and others tried to put out the fire. His wife and child were saved. (Photo: Zane Carim)

Simose Nkosi was sitting outside in the sun when she heard children crying and smelt the fumes of the fire. (Photo: Zane Carim)

Simose Nkosi, who also lived in the house, said she was sitting outside in the sun, where it was warmer, and was the first to hear the children screaming as the fire quickly spread.

“I’m shocked,” she said, still sitting on the pavement outside as the police wanted the house cleared.

‘Illegal electricity connections’

Resident Abdul Ntshangase says the council has been warned for years about conditions in the area. (Photo: Zane Carim)

Resident Abdul Ntshangase said, “The councillor only comes when there’s a situation. The owners [of the house] don’t even live here [another neighbour said he had moved abroad]. There are no inspectors, the infrastructure has collapsed,” he said, showing Daily Maverick how cabling revealed illegal electricity connections.

“This is a wake-up call.”

Residents of the house and neighbours said they had been complaining about a faulty borehole connection and that the fire started at the distribution board.

“We are sitting on a time bomb,” said Ally, who warned after the August 2023 fire at the Usindiso shelter in Johannesburg in which 73 people died, that the problem was city-wide.

He sent the Ward 58 dossier to a series of members of the mayoral committee for planning, who have regularly changed roles because of city coalition politics. “I’ve sent it to the general email and to building inspectors.”

‘Failed service delivery’

Ally said it was hazardous to blow the whistle in Ward 58 as his home had been broken into and only his laptop, on which he documents the slumlords in the area, was stolen. On a blitz of problem properties with a previous councillor, he was openly threatened.

“What happened is really sad and all due to failed service delivery. As far back as 10 years ago, we sent up the Greater Mayfair Civic Association. Since then, we have reported slum-lording and overcrowding in our ward. I push for bylaw enforcement and for the Development Planning department to give some service to Ward 58 – which I call the lost ward in my address to council,” said Councillor Ricky Nair.

“There is no will to serve and contribute to the uplifting of our city by most employees. To turn it around, there has to be a complete mindset change in employees [public servants].”

Further reading

Daily Maverick has focused on Ward 58 for six years as a microcosm of the collapse of the Johannesburg inner city through official neglect and micro-state failure. The writer’s family home is in Ward 58.